There have been a number of CPAP or oxygen hose support devices that lift the mask hose above the sleeper. They all attempt to provide a better sleep experience by eliminating the drawbacks of sleeping with the hose in bed: mask fit disturbance causing air leaks due to rolling over on hose, hose rubbing on body, hose pulling on the air supply machine, hose falling over side of bed, and hose getting tangled in arms.
In the following device descriptions it is helpful to define the movement of the end of a swinging arm in the x, y, and z directions as x is side-to-side of bed, y is head-to-foot of bed, and z is vertical up and down.
Some CPAP or oxygen hose support devices function as fixed lift devices which suspend the hose from a fixed point above the sleeper. The hose may be allowed to slip through a hose hanging support to allow the hose to play out as the sleeper moves. These are simple, portable, and low cost devices. However, they do not perform well when a sleeper rolls between the back and side sleeping positions as the hose slack is not removed when in the back position which requires less hanging hose length. The slack hose, if not very flexible, can push on the mask and cause leaks or if flexible can droop on the head which can disturb sleep. These devices also provide very limited sleeper movement range.
Other CPAP or oxygen hose support devices function as flex rod support devices which use a flexible shaft to support the hose over the sleeper. The shaft bends as the sleeper moves to remove hose slack. These devices can work well to accommodate large sleeper movements but the flexibility of the shaft cannot be optimized for the variation in hose weight and flexibility. This can result in mask leaks due to hose tension on the mask.
Further CPAP or oxygen hose support devices use a hose support arm that is located at the side of a bed and swings in the y direction. There is no bias return position. The arm can be extended to a desired fixed length. The hose is supported by a hanging line on a pulley at the end of the arm that is balanced with a counterweight. This device compensates for mask movement in the z direction and can adapt to different hose weights. However, weights must be stacked to change the weight of the counterweight which is not convenient. Also the two pulleys, even if ball-bearing, will have significant rolling friction due to the weight and this increases hose tension, resulting in mask leaks.
Still other CPAP or oxygen hose support devices use a hose support arm that is located at the head of bed and swings in the x and z directions. A spring loaded pulley is used to remove hose slack in the z direction. There is no bias return to center for the swing arm in the x direction. These devices can work well if the spring tension is correct for the weight of the hanging hose. However, since spring tension is not adjustable, the hose tension on the mask cannot be optimized for different hose weight and flexibility, resulting in hose tension on the mask and possible leaks.
Further CPAP or oxygen hose support devices use a hose support arm that is located at the head of the bed and swings in the x direction. There is no bias return to center for the swinging arm. This type of hose support does not perform well when a sleeper rolls between the back and side sleeping positions as the hose slack is not removed when in the back position. When the sleeper rolls from the side to back position the arm will stay to the side and not center until sleeper start rolling to the other side. This results in inconsistent hose tension on the mask and possible mask leaks.
Yet other CPAP or oxygen hose support devices use a hose support arm that is located at the side of bed and consists of a biased swinging arm in the y direction and carrier assemblies that travel along a support in the x direction. A flexible coil support suspends the hose from the arm. This device provides good coverage along the x and y directions, however, there will be tension on the mask when sleeper rolls from the back to side position due to extension of the coiled support in the z direction. The tension due to the coiled support can result in mask leaks.
Still other CPAP or oxygen hose support devices use a short arm that is located above the sleepers head and swings in the x-direction with a spring bias return to center. The vertical support also flexes near the middle with a spring bias to vertical to allow more sleeper movement in x and y directions. This device requires excessive slack in the back sleeping position to allow rolling to the side with low tension on the hose if the vertical support does not flex. The slack hose, if not very flexible, can push on the mask and cause leaks or if flexible can droop on the head which can disturb sleep. If the vertical support with a biased spring does flex during sleeper movement, the bias force will pull on the mask in the side sleeping positions causing mask leaks. This is because the bias force is not adjustable to work with different hose weight and flexibility and can only pull, not push hose toward the mask.
Alternative CPAP or oxygen hose support devices use a pair of wall mounted retractable reels with lines to the hose at different points to provide a constant pulling force on the mask. This ensures there is no hose slack but the tension is not adjustable and the pulling force on the mask is typically high to work with the heaviest hoses. This pulling force can cause mask leaks as the sleeper moves. Even if the reel pulling force could be adjusted to adapt to the weight of the hose, there still needs to be enough pulling force to prevent the hose from dropping on the sleeper. This pulling force can cause mask leaks when sleeper is in the side position where a sharp bend in a stiff hose can occur near the mask. Ideally there should be a slight pushing force on the hose toward the mask to reduce the tension on the mask due to the hose bend. This is true even for masks with a swivel elbow since the swivel occurs only in one plane which cannot always compensate for the hose bend.
Still other CPAP or oxygen hose support devices use a gravity-driven pulley support system. The hose is pulled through two rollers with a counterweight near the CPAP machine end of the hose. This method does not provide light hose tension on the mask. As the hose is pulled out there is more hose weight to counterbalance and so retraction of the hose will not work correctly. Bends in a stiff hose can cause significant resistance as it is pulled through the roller.
Thus, there is a need for a hose support device that can be easily adjusted to gently lift the hose to a mask to avoid mask leaks and remove slack while the sleeper moves in bed. This is because there is a wide variation in the weight and flexibility of hoses used with CPAP masks. Some masks use a short flexible hose that goes between the mask and the main supply hose with a swivel joint at one or both ends of the flexible hose. Other masks connect directly to the main supply hose using a swivel elbow. The main supply hose is available in two inside diameters: thin 15 mm or standard 19 mm. The thin hose weighs less than the standard hose and is typically more flexible. So there are four combinations of masks with/without short flexible hose connected to a thin/standard main hose. Of course each combination also has some variation in weight and flexibility due to construction differences. Heated hoses and hoses with covers add even more variations. To minimize the hose tension on the mask for these combinations and variations of hoses requires an easily and finely adjustable hose lift tension.